NEW DELHI: Bihar has long been a laboratory for political parties to test their "prayogs" to clinch power. The latest addition to such experiments is poll strategist-turned-politician
Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj, which has emerged as a third option for voters in the upcoming assembly elections and challenged the socialist forces — Janata Dal (United) and Rashtriya Janata Dal — by fielding candidates on all 243 seats.
Prashant has been camping in Bihar for three years. He formed his party on October 2, 2024, vowing to contest the elections on the plank of development. However, as the elections inch closer, several challenges seem to surround PK and his party, making the climb to Ek Anne Marg even steeper.
Challenges ahead of the challenger
Candidates’ desertionJan Suraaj has been defeated on at least three seats as candidates walked out even before a single vote has been cast — Dr Shashi Shekhar Sinha from Gopalganj, Dr Satya Prakash Tiwari from Brahmpur (Buxar), and Akhilesh Kumar alias Mutor Sao from the Danapur seat in Patna.
Additionally, Jan Suraaj leaders, including state spokesperson Amit Kumar Paswan, former district councillor Anita Kumari, and founding member Karmveer Paswan, have also recently joined the BJP ahead of the elections.
However, Prashant Kishor accused the Bharatiya Janata Party and Union minister Amit Shah of “coercing and intimidating” his party’s candidates out of fear of losing the elections.
“Look at this picture: you can see home minister Amit Shah and Dharmendra Pradhan. You talk about the model code of conduct... the home minister kept a candidate with him for one full day so that he could not file his nomination,” Kishor alleged.
Anger among party workersMeanwhile, party workers are also upset with Jan Suraaj's choice of candidates across the state. Workers have accused the party and Prashant Kishor of deceiving them by dropping “parachute candidates” after they had done all the groundwork for the elections.
Speaking to The Times of India, Jan Suraaj leader Ravi Nandan Sahay said that probable candidates had deposited Rs 21,000 each to contest elections on the Jan Suraaj symbol from Kumhrar. However, the party chose former Patna University vice-chancellor KC Sinha from the constituency, who had not even formally joined the party.
“The party workers are feeling cheated. The party had promised that tickets would only be given to a person among the probable candidates. However, I was shocked by the party’s decision to field KC Sinha from Kumhrar, who had not formally joined the party till then. Each probable candidate was also mandated to hold sabhas and distribute Parivaar Labhaarthi cards. All our efforts went in vain,” Sahay said.
“Now, almost every probable candidate has left the party and decided to contest the poll independently. This will cause a significant dent in Jan Suraaj during the campaign,” he added.
Whose “B team” is Jan Suraaj anyway?In the run-up to the assembly elections, both the Mahagathbandhan and NDA have accused Jan Suraaj of being the “B team” of each other. The perception has also seeped among voters who remain unsure about PK’s political allegiance.
“Kishor realised that he would not win elections, and that is why he announced that he would not contest polls. Whatever he had invested in forming the Jan Suraaj Party has already been recovered. His party is nothing but a *vote katwa* (a party that cuts into others’ votes),” Union Minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh alleged after Prashant Kishor decided not to contest from Raghopur against RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav.
“Jan Suraaj is the ‘B team’ of the RJD,” Giriraj Singh added.
Meanwhile, the RJD has maintained its accusation that Jan Suraaj is the “B team” of the Nitish Kumar-led ruling alliance in Bihar.
Now, it remains to be seen how Prashant Kishor persuades voters that his party is a viable alternative and not merely a vote katwa or spoiler in the upcoming elections.
The Election Commission has announced the schedule for the Bihar Assembly elections. The 243 assembly seats will go to the polls in two phases — on November 6 and November 11 — with the counting of votes scheduled for November 14.
The total number of electors in the final list stands at 7.42 crore, compared to 7.89 crore in the first draft list released before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) on June 24 this year. According to an Election Commission release, around 65 lakh voters were removed during the revision process, bringing the number of electors in the updated draft list, as of August 1, 2025, to 7.24 crore.
In the 2020 assembly elections, the BJP contested 110 seats and won 74, securing 19.8% of the vote share. Janata Dal (United) contested 115 seats and won 43, with a 15.7% vote share. Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) contested seven seats, winning four, and secured 0.9% of the vote share.
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